Life's Pursuit
by Enthusiastic Fish
Summary: The more serious of my two alien abduction stories...but not by much. Tim is upset that the aliens keep taking his stuff, but there's a reason for it.


**A/N:** This is the second of my two alien stories. It's slightly more serious, but still rather silly to start out. It was written in December 2008 as a gift for iheartGibbs who was running the NFA Secret Santa fic exchange. It has no relation to the other alien story...except that there are aliens in it. This is not a sequel. Enjoy...if you can. :)

**Disclaimer:** Again, I don't own NCIS. It's not mine. I'm not making money off it. I don't think this story would bring too much money to me anyway.

* * *

**Life's Pursuit**  
by Enthusiastic Fish

Tim slammed his phone down.

"What's wrong, Probie? What did the poor defenseless phone do to you?" Tony asked.

Tim shook his head in annoyance. "The aliens stole my luggage."

That drew the attention of both Tony _and_ Ziva.

"What did you say, McGee?" Ziva asked.

"The aliens stole my luggage. It's missing. It was supposed to be here two days ago. The aliens took it. It's the only explanation." Tim jumped up from his desk, thoroughly annoyed. "I'm so sick and tired of dealing with these aliens. First, it was just a shoelace here and there. Then, it was my razor...then, my typewriter. Now, my luggage! Well, it's going to stop right now!"

Tony stood up, too, but his expression was more akin to the nice men in white coats who say they have a nice jacket for you to try on.

"Probie? Are you okay?"

Tim glared at Tony. "No, Tony. I'm _not_ okay. I just told you that the aliens stole my luggage. Of _course_, I'm not okay. Would _you_ be okay if the aliens had taken all _your_ clothes?"

Tony felt that this was unfairly putting him on the defensive.

"McGee, you seem a little off. Surely you don't really mean that _aliens_ took your luggage."

"Why? Have you met them, Ziva?" Tim asked, turning on her.

"Well, no but–"

"Then, don't try to defend them. These aliens are totally annoying."

"What are you three doing standing around?" Gibbs asked, walking into the bullpen.

"Boss, I think McGee's cracked," Tony said, with the same expression on his face.

"They took my luggage, Boss!" Tim announced. "I'm sick of this!"

"Go and talk to Abby, McGee," Gibbs said.

Tim nodded and stalked away. Once the elevator doors had closed, he sat down at his desk and then looked up at Tony and Ziva.

"What?"

"McGee's lost it. He's talking about _aliens_!"

"Yes, I agree," Ziva said. "He seems really to believe what he has been saying."

"So?" Gibbs asked. "Are you trying to say that he's wrong about the aliens?"

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Abby!" Tim shouted as he stepped into the lab.

Abby turned around. "What have they done now, Tim?" she asked in resignation.

"They stole my luggage! I thought you said this wouldn't be a big deal! I thought you said that this would be nothing!"

"I'm sorry, Tim, but I can't control them all the time!"

"Well, then, they can go somewhere else, then. I didn't ask them to come and I didn't ask to be the contact of a bunch of alien kleptomaniacs!" He looked around. "You hear me? You can go somewhere else!"

Abby sighed as the indistinct shapes appeared in the upper corners of the lab. Tim turned to them.

"You know what? I'm totally sick of you three. You said you understood the rules. You said that I wouldn't even know you were there...well, that does _not_ include theft!"

_We are sorry._

"That's what you said last time! And the time before that!" Tim stomped his foot once. "Are you going to give me back my luggage?"

_We cannot._

"Why not?"

_It is a surprise._

"A surprise? I don't like surprises that involve depriving me of my possessions."

_Should we tell him?_

"I guess so. You really should have been a bit more subtle," Abby said.

_We do not understand subtle._

"That's patently obvious," Abby grumbled. "Tim, they were preparing something for you, but it took longer than they thought...and they just don't get all of our customs yet."

Tim rolled his eyes, but his annoyance was fading in the face of the psychic emanations from the aliens.

"Okay...so what is it?"

_We would like you to close your eyes._

"What are you going to do?"

_We would like you to close your eyes._

"Okay, okay." Tim closed his eyes and felt the aliens flutter down from the ceiling and hover around him. "Can't you give me a little hint at least?"

"Tim, what did you tell me you thought would be cool when they first came here?"

"That it would have been cooler if they had abducted me instead of knocking politely on my apartment door." Tim's eyes flew open just as a beam of light surrounded him. "I'm being abducted?"

His question faded to nothing as he disappeared. Abby just smiled and turned back to her computer.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Where am I going?_

_Where we all go._

_Where is that?_

_Where we all go._

_Tim rolled his eyes...or he thought he did. He didn't appear to have much in the way of a body at the moment...but he could look around and see...and he couldn't even fathom what it was he was seeing._

_Why did you need my clothes?_

_We needed to understand._

_Understand what?_

_We needed to understand you. _

_I don't understand._

_We know._

_There was an infinite span of time when he just floated, his senses being assaulted by a million different stimuli. Just when he thought he couldn't stand it anymore, he came to an abrupt stop._

"_Wow."_

_We know._

_Tim looked around. He was...somewhere...standing on what appeared to be a pier outside NCIS._

"_Where am I?"_

_We are here._

_Suddenly, Tim realized that he wouldn't be able to understand even if they tried to explain it. He had been abducted and he should just enjoy the experience._

_Yes._

"_You can read my mind?"_

_We understand you._

_Tim smiled._

"_So what now?"_

_There was an unexpected pause. They had never hesitated when asked a question before. Their answers were usually unhelpful, but they were swiftly given._

_Now...we will show you._

"_Show me what?" Tim looked around and saw many more than the three who had come to Earth, but they were all grouped in threes. "His" three came down from the group and began to circle around him very quickly. As they circled, Tim's attention was drawn upward into the...for want of a better word...sky above him. He saw a bright light that appeared to be getting closer and closer. There was a roaring sound. He was ready to ask what was happening but decided to wait and see._

_He was glad he did. He didn't know if he was actually "there" or if it was just a...hologram or photo or whatever...but he saw the most beautiful thing that had ever reached his eyes. He was zooming in on the Large Magellanic Cloud, soaring through interstellar space, seeing a thousand different sights, taking a turn at the Tarantula Nebula and then..._

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Wow."

"Fun trip?" Abby asked.

Tim blinked and looked around the lab. "Wow."

"No more complaints?"

"Well, I'd like to have my–" He broke off as all his belongings that had vanished over the last month reappeared...down to the first pair of shoelaces they had taken. "Oh, thanks."

There was no reply.

"Wow."

"So...I take it you had a nice time?"

Tim nodded dizzily. "Was I gone for very long?"

"A couple of hours. Tony and Ziva are in a swivet. They just don't get it."

Tim smiled, beginning to reconnect with reality. "I'm not sure I do either...but wow."

"Yeah, you said that already," Abby said, but she was smiling broadly at Tim's reaction. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

Tim nodded vaguely as Gibbs walked in. Gibbs took one look at his punch-drunk expression and patted him on the back.

"Go home, McGee. See you on Monday."

"What?"

"I'm not going to get anything more out of you today. Go home."

"Right. Home." Tim picked up all his stuff and wandered onto the elevator, not even noticing Gibbs' understanding grin.

He rode up to the bullpen where Tony and Ziva both looked at him askance.

"Found your luggage?"

"Yeah, they gave it back," Tim said and walked to the other elevator. "See you. Have a nice weekend. Bye."

The doors closed and he went home.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

That night, he went for a drive out of the city, into a darker area where he could see the stars. He parked and got out, looking up into the sky that he had just seen up close and personal.

"Wow," he whispered. "I'll never forget this for the rest of my life.

_We know._

Tim smiled but didn't try to find them. He didn't know why, but he understood them like they understood him.

"Thank you."

_We say you are welcome...to visit again._

"Thank you. Yes. Someday."

_We agree. Someday._

This wouldn't go into his book. This wouldn't even be something he talked about much. It was an experience beyond words.

"I always wanted to be abducted by aliens," he said...and then smiled.

FINIS!


End file.
